Wally Lamb. I Know This Much Is True

Those of us old enough to remember the coffins understand some of the emotions broiling Thomas’ mind as he sits in the public library, panicked at news reports of Bush père’s impending Iraq war, and cuts off a hand to stop the war, in Wally Lamb’s 1998 novel, I Know This Much Is True.

Fortunately, the first hundred pages are the slower element of Wally Lamb’s story of redemption. Some readers might feel Lamb could have abridged the grandfather’s manuscript, but I credit the book-within-a-book device to writer’s prerogative. That, and the ending, are the only two disappointments in an otherwise diverting tome.

It’s not as ponderous as that, but the word fits. It would be facile to make fun of the plot, call it perhaps a fairy tale. Given this story, how could it end otherwise? The book’s joy comes from the unfolding.

Wally Lamb fills his 897 paperback pages richly with details of one twin’s mental illness, the other twin’s adaptation to that. Any discussion beyond that would be a spoiler, though not a big one, given the predictability of the plot. Still, a reader won’t discover this until enveloped in Lamb’s involving story. Reading It from start to finish is worth the time.

Lamb imposes a moral imperative on the reader-- both as an individual and a resident in your community--to resolve Dominick’s dilemma: Dominick’s obligation to his brother’s keeping conflicts with any person’s need for individuality. Living with social stigma adds unjust pain to honorable pursuit of one’s obligations. Sacrifice, the flip side of individuality, has always been Domick’s role. Now, as he nears 40 , the fabric of Dominick’s life seems about to unravel into a declivitous mess.

The writer certainly doesn’t waste the space, taking the liberty to flesh out at least a dozen core stories: of mental illness; exigencies of being a twin brother; pervasiveness of child abuse in society; of victimage, acquiesence, hopelessness; racism; fatherhood, ontogeny-phylogeny; divorce, Love; revenge; small business, institutional business; psychiatry; social workers. Ultimately, rounding out to an even dozen, I Know This Much Is True is the story of Dominick’s redemption, a claim that, once you know Dominick’s story--or after reading the final two paragraphs on page 897-- you’ll understand.

But I don’t get the good dog part.